Automatic repeating firearm.



R.. FITTIPALDI.

AUTOMATIC EEPBATING FIREARM. APPLIOATION FILED JAN.10, 1912.

11,099,245.' Y Y v PatentedJune 9,1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WITNESSES! JNVETOR. I 5]/ 9 RAFAEL .Fl-TTIPALDI A TTORIAVEY.

R. PITTIPALDI. AUTOMATIC REPBATING FIRBARM. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 10, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

` WJTNEssEx! F7; 8 -JLVVE/'To/e. la RAFAEL FITTIPALD:

l BY me? MM ATTORNEY.

Patented June 9, 1914.-

a subject of the ing of the arm Ais a specification.

This invention yrelates to automatic reg -inSuTin) STATE RAFAEL TITTIPALDI, or Buenos Arens, ARGENTINA.

AUTOMATIC 'REPEAtTlNt'rl FIREARM..

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, RAFAEL Frr'rIPALD'I, King ot' Italy and resident of No. 832 Carlos Pellegrini street', Buenos Aires, Argentina-, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Repeating Firearms, of which the following peating'ire arms and one of its objects is certain improvements whereby the escapeV ot the gases through the breech is prevented absolutely and great etiiciency in the workis obtained. Besides this, thev present invention provides an easily handled weapon of reduced weight, small dimensions and great precision and speed in firing.

The simplicity of the mechanism and construction of the device, permit the sam'e to be applied to'any re arm, whatever be its caliber or dimensions.

Generally speaking, the invention is characterized by the fact that the movement of the mechanism for bringing about the firing causes, first of all, the obturation or closure of the breech of the arm, and only after this can the explosion of the cartridge take place, compressed gases have been entirely evacuated through the barrel of the gun, so that complete advantage may be taken ofthe torce developed by the explosion of the gases. The performance of this characteristie which constitutes the piinciple of this invention is obtained by effecting the obturation of the breech by means of a cylindrical piece and arranging the striker or firing pin within this cylindrical piece in such a way that after the firing and vvjust bef-ore firing again, the striker when advancing, `shall push before it the said piece until the same comesinto contact with. the breech, after which, owing to stops provided on the striker and which move in curved grooves formed on the cylindrical piece,

.the striker compels said .piece to eifect. a

ment of the mova le part et the mechanism in'iginalpositionl for. automatically repeat# and this .recoil brings the arm back to its Specification of Letters Patent. i

ing the operation. When this 'backward movement is taking place, the-joint between the closing or'obturating cylinder andthe breech, remains entirely closed and only opens when the obturating cylinderreturns to receive a reverserotary motion which llberates the same from vthe breech and as this reverse motion only takes place when there 1s no longer any pressure of' gases in the barrel all of the pressure will have been used for the discharge of the projectile,

The invention will more readily be un derstood by referring to the following detailed description, reference being made to the accompanying drawings. l

In said drawingsftlie invention has' been represented as being' applied 'to a rapidfire gun. y l Figure 1 shows a longitudinal vertical section of the arm just after firing. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, the mechanism the breech remaining closed until the being in its position of complete recoil. Fig. 3 is another view similar to Fig. 1 but with the mechanism 'completely cocked. Fig. 4- is a side elevation of the arm. Fig. 5 is a central longitudinal sectional view, the partsbeing disposed as shown in Fig. l. Fig. 6 .shows details ofthe striker and obtu-rating cylinder. Figs. 7 and 8 show details of the feeding mechanism of the rapid lire gun, and Fig. 9 represents details 'of the firing, reacting and obturating mechapartly in section, the forward section being taken behind the central longitudinalv plane of the fire-arm, while the rear section is taken in front of saidplane.

Similar reference numerals indicate like parts throughout the severalvviews of the drawings.A i

The rapid lire gun consistsv of. a fixed and ar movable part, the fixed part comprising the guide casing 4, and the movable part comprising the reciprocating casing 5, the obturating cylinder 34 and the striker 13.

1 designates the tiring device, applied to the rear part of the gun, being supported by a bracket-piece 2. j Between the piece 2` and the rear wall of the casing 4, is. interposed a spiral spring adapted to hold the iiring. device 1 normally projected outwardly.

3 (Fig, 4) designates the reaction spring which compels the movable part to return to its forward position after the cessation Patented J une 9, 1914. Appiication led -January 10,1912. lSerial No. 670,427. i

nism. Fig. l0 is a fragmental elevation' tion of Fig. 1, and to in the position of Fig. 2.

The movable casing 5 of the arm is provided'at its upper part with the grooves 4l.

:of the pressure of the gases which caused the recoil. stud 35.

12 designates the reactinglever :tul-

crumed on the pin 27 and which carries at its upper part, pivoted thereto by means of a stud 38, a stop 10 which aids in the firing and re-cocking of the arm, as will be seen later on.

11 designates a spring which keeps said sto 10 normally in the position indicated at ig. 1.

7 designates the closing and striking lever, engaging the pin 36v which serves as fulcrum to the same. This lever has an arm 17, connected to the' spring 19 by means ofthesmall link 18. The upper part of this lever projects upward through the reciprocating casing 5 (see Fig. 5).

The loading mechanism consists of a drum 8, mounted on the axle 8.

drum is provided with teeth on its front end andY to the rear of it'there is a toothed disk 82. This mechanism is disposed below the breech of the arm and there is provided a stop 29, pivoted at 29 at the rear oit' the drum and another stop 31, is pivoted at 31 at the front ofthe drum. The purpose of these stops is to cause the drum to rotate in the manner hereinafter set forth.

9 designates a lever, fulcrumed at 9and connected to the drum by means of the piece 28. The object of this lever 9 is to raise the drum to present a projectile to the breech after each discharge, and tov lower the movable the lever stop 25, fixed tothe brackets of the gun and which-move with saidk brackets and causes the lever to rise. when occupying the posidescend when being drum to provide passage for the mechanism. This jmovement of In said upperpart, of a slightly oval shape,

`is arranged the closing or obturating cyllinder 34, and in the interior of the cylinder -pin 13.

is the striker 13 provided with the firing The striker is provided with stops by passing-through the slots 21, said closing cylinder, guide the 22 whichl placed in same in forward or backward direction.I

Said grooves are curved so that when the obturating cylinder comes into contact with the breech and its' forward motion is intercepted, the striker whichis being driven bythe lever 7, andV which cannot rotate, on exerting pressure against said slots, will 'cause the closing cylinder to rotate and lock now be eX-l itself within the breech, as will This spring is supportedy by the.

The

-pin 36,

` grooves 21 ofthe 9 is brought about'by means of a' vice 1 messes turating cylinder, on the other hand, are arranged horizontally and remain in horizontal position until they have moved forwardly beyond the shoulders 40 (Figs. 2 and 3) when. the cylinder, receiving a ro- 7o tary motioncaused by the stops 22 and slots 21, causes the said projections to place themselves in vertical position beforeA said shoulders 4:0, thus positively locking the obturating cylinder. From the above description, the general working of the arm wlll readily be understood.

The modus operandi is as follows: Suppose the mechanism to be in the position shown at Fig. 1; when now the closing and 8C striking lever 7 is engaged by the end of the piece which projects from the casing of the. mechanism 5,'and said lever is pushed backward to the end of the opening orpassage provided atjthe upper part of the casing of 35 the mechanism,- that is to say, until the shoulder 14 of the rear ypart of the striker 13 has got beyond the stop 10, as clearly shown in Fig. 3.

When carrying out this movement, the closing and percussion lever 7 turns on the arranged at the' lower part and drawsv with it the striker 13 by means of the pin 16; as the striker 13 recedes, with its two stops 22 lodged in t-he guiding 95 obturating cylinder 34, it will impart,rowingto the.curved shape of the said guide grooves 21 (Fig. 6) the necessary rotary motion Vto the obturating cylinder 34 in order that the two .projections 33 may take a horizontal position and get out of contact with theJ shoulders 40 of the casing of the, mechanism.` 'After rotation of the obturating cylinder'34 and the projections 33 being disengaged from the shoulders 40 of the casing of-the mechanism 5, said projections 33 will coincide in their horizontal position with the guide ways 41 ofthe casing'of the mechanism and willl slide along the same as the obturatingc vlnder 34 is being carried along b v the stops 22 of the striker 13, this latter being pushed backward in its turn by the closing and striking lever 7, Fig. 3. As the obturating cylinder 34 and the striker 13 Withdraw 115 in a backward direction, the shoulder 14 of the striker passes over and is caught by the spring pressed stop 10, which holds the striker and the o'bturating cylinder in their cocked position, as shown at Fig. 3. When 12 rotating backward, the' closing and striking lever 7 cocks the .spring 19. After effecting vthe above described movement. the mechanism will be in position to fired, as shown in Fig. 3.. cartridge is now vinserted into vtheI breech 24, by introducing the same through the upper part of the casing of the mechanism 5, Fig. 3, after which the firing de-I is pressed upon, which depressesthe 13 be loaded and V 1GO I ment with the shoulder 14 which retains inr which they slide.

the striker. The striker, on being released from the catch 10 moves forward, being pushed fby the lever 7 actuated by the spring 19. The striker 1\\3,7 with its, stopsv 22 enfgaged in' lthe curved slots 21, propels' the obturating cylind r 34, which' moves forward with-out turiiing` owing to thev projections 33, being vengaged in the grooves 41 As the obturating" cylinderis stopped at the end of its forward motion, on` account of its contact with the rear of` thel barrel 23, the striker-13 and the .stops 22 continue their forward motion and owing to the curved shape ofthe openings 21, saidstops will cause theobturating cylinder to rotate until its two projections 32 are placed in'vertical relation (see Fig. 1)". The breech or seat ofthe cartridge24 will then be completely .obturated and' the hreechlocke'd bygthie projections 33 having engaged against the shoulders 40--of the casing of the device. f The striker 13, after having turned the obturating cylinder 34 and-locked the breech, continues its advance until its-firingpin 13 strikesthe cap and causes the discharge of the gun. The back pressure of the gases brings abontthe recoil nt the entire movable part, which then takes the position shown vat Fig. 2, compressing and cooking the react-ion spring 3 (Fig. 4;).

As t-hevmovable casing 5 together. with the barrel, obturating cylinder and striker re- `coils the shoulder 15 of the striker' engages and moves horizontally the striking and closing lever 7. A tthe same time thekstop 25 engages the lever 9. At the commencement of itsl backward motion, said stop Q5 causes the lever 9 to turn on its pivot, thus raising'its rear part andy lowering the front part whichlatter cilrries along and lowersl the loading drum 8, in order to give passage to the casing of the mechanism. After tiring and recoil being completed, the barrel with the casing of the mechanism returns to its forward position, Fig. 3, under thev niuence of the spring 3, Fig. 4, which was cocked bythe action of recoil.

As ,the casing of the mechanism after the recoil, returns to its forward position, the lever part of the reacting lever 12 advances-owing-tofthe arrangement of its pin 2T fixed to the brackets of the fixed guide casing 4, and to its two sliding studs 37 (Fig. 3) disposed in the openings` of the easing of the mechanism, while at the same time its upper part. recedes; thus carrying backward the obturating cylinder and the striker bymeans of the stop 10 engaging the shoulder 14 (Fig. 3).

W'hen withdrawing from the breech, the

obturating cylinder 34 with its extractor carries along with it. the spent cartridge uto the end of its actionwhere is arrang Ilherefore, after the y.gun has been fired and the ejector 6 (Fig. 4) which means of itspoint which passes through the groove ofl the projection .of the iobtura'ting. cylinderfejects theempty shell from the casl ing-of the device.

When returning forward, the 25 strikes the lever- 9 of theloading drum 8 and causes said'lever to oscillate on its axle and raises the loadingy drum 8 (Fig. 3).-

being -n the position shown at Fig. 3,v theI I.

end ofthe cartridge band is inserted through the 4left part of the" casing of the mechanism and-is passed through. the opening between the loading'drum 8 and the obturating cylinde4 34. 7' l When owing to the backward movement of the stop 25 the`dru1n8 descends, one of its teeth engages with the stop 29, to the left of the axle-and causes the drum to rotate a short distance, while when rising, the other stop 31,situated to the right engagesthe teeth of the drum and causes it to rotate through the distance'still wanting, so that the loading drum 8 will present to the front of the closing cylinder v34 each succeeding cartridge ofthe band for the successive discharges.

On depressing the firing button 1 for firing, the obturatinglcylinder 34 moves for'-l ward and pushes t e', cartridge from the edge of the band to the interior of the breech, the mechanism then performing the obturation, firing, recoil .and all the otherl movements in the same way when thegun 1s used as automatlc repeater as when used as single loader, as above described. llVhen the ring button 1 is being depressed continuously, the discharges will automatically succeed the other as long as there are cartridges remaining in the cartridge band. In

order to stop firing, the firing button 1 is 115 released thus causing the stop 10 to engage with the projection 14 and hold the striker in rearmost position. From the foregoing description it will be seen that by depressing the firing but-ton, loading, obturating, lockgases of the powder to impelthe bullet and to escape entirely by way o f the barrel.

When there are no gasesin the interior of the barrel and recoil having been completed, the reacting spring through its tension causes the barrel and the casing ofV therlS-O vals mechanism to return toits forward position, during which movement the breech is opened, the empty shell extracted and ejected, and loading, obturating, locking and firing arel again automatically performed, as long as the 'cartridge band contains cartridges and the firing button is held depressed.` l

When applying the mechanism to rapid fire guns for ordnance use, iti will be neceswiththe system of rapid lire arm tov which this invention is to be applied," but all such modifications do not in any way affect the -natu're of -the invention, the essential fea- What I claim is:

l. In an automatic repeating fire arm, the combination of a fixed casing; a movable casing having a vertical slot in its lower part; an obturating cylinder, aV striker in theobturating cyllnder; a striking lever adapted4 to move the striker forwardly or rearwardly; means for yieldably pressing the striking lever forwardly; a reacting lever pivoted near its middle part to the fixed casing and having a stud at its lower end engaging in said slot of the movable casing; a pivoted stop on the upper end of the reacting lever and adapted toengage and move rearwardly the rear end of the, striker; and a yieldable-plunger for at will disengaging said pivoted stop. f

2. In an automatic repeating fire arm, the combination of a fixed casing; a movable casing yieldably pressed forwardly in the fixed casing; a. barrel secured to the movable casing; an obturating cylinder slidable in the movable casing and adapted to be entures of which are pointed out in the claims.

lgaged with the barrel as the cylinder is rotated; a striker in the obturating cylinder and adapted to rotate the cylinder when the strike is pressed forwardly; a strikin lever adapted to move the strike forwar ly or rearwardly; yieldable means for pressing the striker'forwardly; a reacting lever associated with said casings and adapted to have its upper end moved rearwardly when the movable casing moves forwardly; a pivoted stop on said upper end adapted to engage the striker; means for disengaging the pivoted stop; and means for feeding car-l tridges to the barrel.'

3. In an automatic repeating fire arm, the combination of a fixed casing; a movable casing yieldably pressed forwardly in the casing and provided with spiral slots and.

with projections adapted to engage said shoulders; a'striker slidable longitudinally in said cylinder and provided with stops in said slots; a striking lever adapted to move said striker forwardly or rearwardly; means for pressing the striking lever forwardly; a reacting lever pivoted near its middle part to the fixed casing and having its lower part positively engaged by the lower part of the movable casing; a pivoted stop on the upper end of the reacting lever and adapted to engage the rear end of the striker; means for at will disenga,f ;ingv the pivoted stop; and means for feeding cartridges to thel barrel.

4. Inan automatic repeating fire arm, the combination of a fixed casing; a movable casing'slida'ble in the fixed casing; a reacting spring pressing said movable casing forwardly; a barrel xed to the movable casing and having opposite shoulders in its breech; an obturating cylinder slidable in the upper part of the movable casing and provided vwith spiralslots and with opposite projections engaging said shoulders; a striker in said cyllnder and provided with stops in said slots, and at the rear with a stop and a shoulder; a striking lever pivoted to the fixed casing and yieldably pressed on the rear end of the striker between said end and said stop of the rear end; a reacting lever pivoted at an intermediate point tothe fixed casing, and positively engaged byI said movable casing at its lower part; a pivoted stop at the upper end of the reacting lever and adapted to engage said shoulder .of the striker; means for at will disengaing said pivoted stop; and means for fee ing cartridges into the breech of the barrel.

5. In combination with an automatic repeating fire arm, a projectile feeding mechamsm substantially comprising an axle; a toothed drum and a toothed disk mounted on the axle; a lever for raising and lowering the drum; and two pivoted stops adapted to be engaged by the drum for causing the rotation of said drum; each stop imparting to the same one half ofthe movement required for the presentation of each cartridge to the breech, the-one' acting when the drum descends, and the latter when the drumV rises, substantially as described and for the purposes set forth.

6. In an automatic repeating fire arm, the combination of a fixed casing; a movable casing slidable therein and yieldably pressed forwardly; a barrel secured to the movable,I

casing; an obturating cylinder; means'associated with the movable casing for movingthe obturating cylindery to and away from -thebreech of the barrel; a vertically mov-l able axle; a toothed drum and a toothed and disk on the upward and downward disk on said axle; a two-armed lever pivoted movement thereof respectively. to the fixed easing and connected to the axle; Signed at Buenos Aires, Argentina., this a stop carried by the movable easing and 27th day of November A. D. 1911. engaging .the two-armed lever for raising t RAFAEL FITTIPALDI. und lowering said axle, drum and disk; and Witnesses:

.1 pair of means adapted to be engaged by J. A. DE MARVA,

said drum and disk, for moving the drum J. H. AINSWORTH. 

